This invention relates to an apparatus and method for combining a survey measurement dataset and a position dataset into a single dataset containing both measurement and position data.
A method and apparatus are described for (1) determining the position of a survey tool at each point in space where it collects data, and (2) combining measurements to create spatially coherent data sets that can be used to obtain high-quality images. The survey tool can be any number of instruments used for surveying such as, for example, a ground penetrating radar, an induction apparatus, a magnetometer, or an optical camera. A tracking tool monitors and records positions of the survey tool. The recorded positions are merged with the data collected by the survey tool, so that the position of the survey tool is known at each data-collection point. The position is given in a coordinate system that can be related to any fixed feature in the survey area (for example, street coordinates) or to global coordinates (for example, latitude-longitude-height or Universal Transverse Mercator coordinates). With the position of the survey tool known at each data point, one can accurately merge the data from several surveys to get a big data set for the combined survey area. The big data set can be processed to get better images of the subsurface than could be obtained from each single-survey data set alone. Moreover, when the data set is given in terms of street coordinates (or global coordinates), the images obtained from that data set will also be given in those coordinates. Hence, the image can be incorporated into Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and CAD maps available for some areas. Also provided are channel-equalization filters, spiking deconvolution filters, and frame filters that can be used in conjunction with the positioning information to enhance the quality of the images obtained from the data collected with the survey tool.